PODIATRY BLOG

Superior Foot & Ankle Centers serving Marquette & Escanaba, MI

Regular readers of this column will be well acquainted with the topic of diabetes, and especially some of the lower extremity complications. These facts bear repeating, partially because diabetes is now epidemic, but also because some of the most harmful and dangerous effects of this disease are preventable. I am referring specifically to lower extremity amputations, a life-changing event, in more ways than one.

The Charcot foot is one example of some of the strange diseases that can befall the human body. It is characterized by the sudden development of a severely deformed foot, without any history of trauma. And it is accompanied by no pain whatsoever!

Have you ever been burned by a hot pan? Can you imagine having that feeling from your whole foot? It’s called diabetic neuropathy, and it’s what some diabetics have to endure. Their nerves stop working correctly when their sugar levels rise high enough, and for long enough. Numbness is the most common sensation experienced, but there can also be tingling, “pins and needles”, or the aforementioned burning.

One of the most dangerous effects of diabetes is on the ability of the foot to detect various types of trauma. Some of the nerves in the feet are responsible for producing pain in response to injury. This is an extremely important sensation. When the nerves stop working well, the afflicted individual may feel some things well, but might not be alerted to other things, like a scrape, blister, or some other minor trauma to the skin. When combined with a diabetic’s reduced ability to fight bacteria, it is understandable that diabetics suffer from a higher incidence of serious, limb-threatening infections.

Diabetes appears to be nearing epidemic proportions. Because this particular disease produces a constellation of problems, there will be a tremendous strain on our health care system in the years to come. Of course, these financial expenditures are secondary to the suffering and disability that will result.

Did you hear about poor uncle Steve? He cut himself while trimming his toe nails. So you might ask: “What’s the big deal“? Steve wasn’t concerned. In fact, it didn’t hurt at all, so why would he worry? Even though the cut didn’t heal in the usual time, he didn’t give it a second thought. That changed when he developed an infection, and he ended up losing his leg.

Have you ever been burned by a hot pan? Most of us have, but can you imagine having that feeling from your whole foot, persisting, without let-up? That is what some diabetics have to endure. It’s called diabetic neuropathy, and many individuals with diabetes have a greatly reduced quality of lifebecause they suffer from this problem. It all stems from the imbalance in glucose metabolism that is seen with this disease.